Stonewall Stand Up Sessions

Jen Brister headlines Stonewall’s stand up comedy evening!

Stonewall’s fifth annual comedy night Stonewall Stand Up Sessions took place at the Shaw Theatre last week.

Presented by the wonderful stand-up comedian Suzi Ruffell, the evening saw a handpicked gaggle of LGBT performers come together including BBC New Comedy Award 2017 winner Heidi Regan, Joe Lycett and headliner Jen Brister, who said it was “lovely to be here”.

The event was introduced by Ruth Hunt CEO of Stonewall who told the audience:

“Despite growing up on a diet of Cinderella, I still managed to become a blatant homosexual.”

“But [people] are using the same language now about trans young people. ‘Doctor, doctor, what do I do? My son wants to dress up as Elsa.’ To which Stonewall says, buy more Elsa costumes, it’s really okay.

“The panic is there. And what we’ve seen this month is that one in five LGBT people have experienced hate crime in the last year. It’s one in four trans people. The level of discrimination LGBT people are experiencing here in this country now is still horrific, and that’s why we know that half of young trans people self harm and that half of young LGBT people are constantly feeling really bad about themselves, because that’s what the world tells us to feel about ourselves.”

“So for all of you here tonight, those of you who are LGBT, those of you who are our allies and are standing by our sides, thank you so much. And a massive thank you to all of our performers.”

DIVA magazine publisher Linda Riley said in the run up to the big night:

"DIVA is delighted to be supporting the Stonewall Stand Up Sessions for the second year running. We can't wait to celebrate the best in LGBT comedy."

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